Diane di Prima was writing and publishing controversial work on the subject of rape and incest when it was considered indecent for a young woman to live alone. She was taking drugs and having orgies when the rest of her peers were learning shorthand and awaiting marriage proposals. It comes as no surprise then, that […]
You Are Here: the Redbeck Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories
Edited by Bill Broady and Jane Metcalfe, You Are Here: the Redbeck Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories, is a collection of thematically and stylistically varied work. With shorts ranging from just a couple of pages to a more epic thirty pages long, this anthology is full of eccentric and broken characters, with deluded celebrities, courting […]
Capturing Everyday Beauty: an Interview with Gwendoline Riley
Gwendoline Riley’s novels honour the small things. Cold Water (2002) and its successor Sick Notes (2004) tell the stories of Carmel and Esther respectively, as they live out their ‘wilderness years’ in Manchester. Drink, doomed love and dysfunction accompany passing friendships and casual jobs. Bleak and beautiful, Riley’s stories are drawn from the ordinary, but […]
Adrienne Shelly’s Triumph: Waitress
Adrienne Shelly’s final film ‘Waitress’ starring Keri Russell is a quiet victory completely unlike the real life tragedy that surrounded its release. "If only life was as sweet as pie…" is the film’s all too apt strapline. Taking place for the most part at Joe’s Pie Place, Russell stars as Jenna, a generous, creative young […]
Revolutionary Road: A masterpiece on paper
Nearly fifty years after it first appeared on American bookshelves (Little, Brown, 1961) Richard Yates’ first novel ‘Revolutionary Road’ remains an impressively relevant tale. Set in the Stepford Wives suburbia of 1950s America, Yates brings to life the characters of April and Frank Wheeler flawlessly. Two above average Americans, this couple see through the homogoneity […]
Kylie to present Brit Awards
Aussie singer, Kylie Minogue is all set to present the Brit Awards along side Gavin and Stacey favourites, Mathew Horne and James Corden. The Pet Shop Boys are already confirmed as this year’s Outstanding Contributors to Music though it remains uncertain what they have contributed of late, and Coldplay look very likely to pick up […]